Born 1893 in Gloucester, English society photographer Dorothy Wilding wanted to become an actress or artist but this career was disallowed by her uncle, in whose family she lived, so she chose the art of photography which she started to learn from the age of sixteen.
By 1929, Wilding had already moved studio a few times and in her Bond Street, London, studio she attracted theatrical stars and shot her first British Royal Family portrait of the 17-year-old Prince George (later Duke of Kent). This sitting was eventually followed by the famous Wilding portrait of the new Queen Elizabeth II that was used for a series of definitive postage stamps of Great Britain used between 1953 and 1967, and a series of Canadian stamps in use from 1954 to 1962.
A previous portrait sitting of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Queen Consort of King George VI had turned into a double portrait of the royal couple and was adapted for the 1937 Coronation issue stamp. That portrait led to her being the first woman awarded a Royal Warrant to be the official photographer to a King and Queen at their coronation. She opened a second photo studio in New York in 1937. An autobiography In Pursuit of Perfection was published in 1958.
Besides members of the Royal family, Dorothy Wilding photographed many famous people like film stars and celebrities amongst whom were: Noël Coward, Jessie Matthews, Wallis Simpson, (Duchess of Windsor), Diana Wynyard, Claire Bloom, Harriet Cohen, Cecil Beaton, George Bernard Shaw, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Anna May Wong, Aldous Huxley, Dame Gladys Cooper, Tallulah Bankhead, Helen Wills Moody, Raymond Massey, Maurice Chevalier, Nancy Astor, Diana Wynyard, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Barbara Hutton, Fannie Hurst, Dame Barbara Cartland, Ralph Hancock, Dame Daphne du Maurier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Norman Hartnell, Harry Belafonte, Louis Jourdan, Yehudi Menuhin, William Somerset Maugham and Yul Brynner.
Wilding is also known for her pictorial style nude photographs. She died in 1976, aged 83.
Take a look at these gorgeous photos of celebrities that Wilding took from between the 1920s and 1950s.
By 1929, Wilding had already moved studio a few times and in her Bond Street, London, studio she attracted theatrical stars and shot her first British Royal Family portrait of the 17-year-old Prince George (later Duke of Kent). This sitting was eventually followed by the famous Wilding portrait of the new Queen Elizabeth II that was used for a series of definitive postage stamps of Great Britain used between 1953 and 1967, and a series of Canadian stamps in use from 1954 to 1962.
 |
| Classic beauties taken by by Dorothy Wilding |
A previous portrait sitting of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Queen Consort of King George VI had turned into a double portrait of the royal couple and was adapted for the 1937 Coronation issue stamp. That portrait led to her being the first woman awarded a Royal Warrant to be the official photographer to a King and Queen at their coronation. She opened a second photo studio in New York in 1937. An autobiography In Pursuit of Perfection was published in 1958.
Besides members of the Royal family, Dorothy Wilding photographed many famous people like film stars and celebrities amongst whom were: Noël Coward, Jessie Matthews, Wallis Simpson, (Duchess of Windsor), Diana Wynyard, Claire Bloom, Harriet Cohen, Cecil Beaton, George Bernard Shaw, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Anna May Wong, Aldous Huxley, Dame Gladys Cooper, Tallulah Bankhead, Helen Wills Moody, Raymond Massey, Maurice Chevalier, Nancy Astor, Diana Wynyard, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Barbara Hutton, Fannie Hurst, Dame Barbara Cartland, Ralph Hancock, Dame Daphne du Maurier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Norman Hartnell, Harry Belafonte, Louis Jourdan, Yehudi Menuhin, William Somerset Maugham and Yul Brynner.
Wilding is also known for her pictorial style nude photographs. She died in 1976, aged 83.
Take a look at these gorgeous photos of celebrities that Wilding took from between the 1920s and 1950s.
 |
| Diana Wynyard, circa late 1920s |
 |
| Tallulah Bankhead, circa 1920s |
 |
| Anna May Wong, 1930 |
 |
| Madeleine Carroll, circa 1930s |
 |
| Madeleine Carroll, circa 1930s |
 |
| Sari Maritza, circa early 1930s |
 |
| Yvonne Arnaud, circa 1930s |
 |
| Lady Sylvia Ashley (née Hawkes), 1932 |
 |
| Dorothy Dickson, circa 1933 |
 |
| Dorothy Hyson,1933 |
 |
| Princess Andrée Aga Khan (née Andrée Joséphine Carron), 1934 |
 |
| Tallulah Bankhead, 1934 |
 |
| Lady Margaret ‘Peggy’ Cavendish-Bentinck, 1937 |
 |
| Peggy Ashcroft, 1937 |
 |
| Princess Elizabeth, 1945 |
 |
| Princess Elizabeth, 1947 |
 |
| Princess Elizabeth, 1947 |
 |
| Princess Elizabeth, 1947 |
 |
| Princess Margaret, 1951 |
 |
| Princess Elizabeth, 1952 |
 |
| Queen Elizabeth II, 1952 |
 |
| Queen Elizabeth II, 1952 |
 |
| Princess Margaret, 1953 |
 |
| Princess Margaret, 1953 |
 |
| Princess Margaret, 1953 |
 |
| English film and stage actress, Claire Bloom, 1957 |
 |
| Henrietta Tiarks, The Duchess of Bedford, 1957 |
 |
| Henrietta Tiarks, The Duchess of Bedford, 1957 |
 |
| Henrietta Tiarks, The Duchess of Bedford, 1957 |
 |
| Henrietta Tiarks, The Duchess of Bedford, 1957 |
These are all lovely. I'm glad we have these gems to remember the magic and historic weight of classic portraiture.
ReplyDelete